If there isn’t a [homes] section, create it, and save your changes, close the file, and restart the smb service:

# service smb restart

If SELinux is disabled, or if it is on permissive mode, you are done. You should be able to connect to the share from a Windows, Linux, or Mac machine.

If you can’t connect to the home share, chances are that either the firewall is not allowing access to the smb service, SELinux is set to enforcing, or both, and it hasn’t been configured to allow access to the home shares. I suggest checking the status on SELinux if you are not sure; it will save you some frustration and time if you have difficulties connecting to the share.

Check and change the status on SELinux

To view the current SELinux mode:

# sestatus | grep -i mode

If its current mode says “enforcing”, you will need to run the following command in order to be able to access the home folders:

# setsebool -P samba_enable_home_dirs=1

To disable access to shared home folders, either edit the smb.conf file (path above) and remove the [homes] section, or change the settings on SELinux.

# setsebool -P samba_enable_home_dirs=0

Now you should be good to go. Restart the smb service, and connect to your home share.